


no fear (shakespeare)

by gaypop



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Gen, M/M, this is barely even a concept, this isn't a thought
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-14
Updated: 2017-03-14
Packaged: 2018-10-04 16:20:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10282982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gaypop/pseuds/gaypop
Summary: Jughead has just turned away from the vending machine in the student lounge, snack in hand, when Reggie Mantle corners him against it.(a reggie/jughead drabble for the prompt: "last time i ask you for a favor!")





	

Jughead has just turned away from the vending machine in the student lounge, snack in hand, when Reggie Mantle corners him against it. Instantly, his mind is moving a mile a minute, thinking back to anything he has said in the past week that Reggie could have perceived as a slight and comes up with nothing. Scarier still, Reggie’s face is missing the smirk he so regularly wears when messing with Jughead.

Jughead Jones is nothing if not realistic. He knows, toe-to-toe, there’s no way he could take on Reggie Mantle. That is, unless biting sarcasm could be used as a weapon. He sizes Reggie up again. 6’3, at least. Could probably bench-press Jughead if he really wanted to. Skull as thick as molasses. Yeah, no. Something tells Jughead that Reggie Mantle is in the ‘words will never hurt me because I don't understand them’ group.

So, since fight was never really a viable option, Jughead opts for flight. Except, Reggie’s body mirrors Jughead’s every movement, effectively caging him in position. Jughead’s eyes dart from side to side, desperate for some sort of _deus ex machina_ to fall from the heavens and beat the ever-loving shit out of his own personal Goliath. He sees only Kevin Keller looking absolutely _giddy_ with anticipation. Awesome. So, with no other options, Jughead Jones does what he does best: he talks. 

 “Can I help you, dude?” 

Reggie doesn’t respond which is—weird. Usually he has some unoriginal nickname ready to go, like he writes them down in his free time (Jughead likes to imagine he does). He opens his mouth but closes it just as quickly, frowning. It quickly occurs to Jughead that they’ve attracted an audience, the mindless chatter that usually circulates around the lounge having devolved into excited whispers. Reggie’s face reddens, and, wait _what_ —

 “Oh my god, Reg. I told you to wait until I got here to ask him,” comes a groan from the entrance. Archie. Jughead nearly, _nearly_ sighs in relief, but he won’t give Reggie (or Archie, for that matter) the satisfaction

 Reggie, meanwhile, has taken a step back but has yet situate himself Entirely Out Of Jughead’s Area, which if anyone was asking would be Jughead’s first preference. 

 It’s not like anyone _was_ , though.

 Archie, god bless him, moves himself in between them, giving Jughead a bit more room to breathe. He looks slightly annoyed at Reggie, but not angry. Jughead doesn’t even have time to ask what the fuck was happening before Archie is turning to him. “Reggie needs a favor.” 

 Jughead is silent. The room devolves back into mindless chatter when it becomes obvious that there will be no physical confrontation. _Vultures_. 

 “Jughead?” Archie tries again, like Jughead hadn’t heard him.

 “Oh, don’t mind me, I was just waiting for the punchline to this obvious joke.” 

 Archie sighs, running a hand over his face. “Jughead.” And Reggie is huffing a curse now, telling Archie something about having known this was a bad idea, and frankly, Jughead would be surprised if Reggie knew _anything_.

 “Look, Reggie is failing English…” Archie pointedly ignores Jughead and Reggie’s collective scoffs and continues, “… _and_ he needs help. Just for one assignment. He asked Dilton, but…” Archie trails off. And, wow, Jughead wishes he could have been a fly on the wall for that disaster of a conversation. 

 “If he doesn’t pass this assignment, Coach Clayton won’t let him stay Capitan. We need him, Jug. Please.” And Archie is doing that _thing_ with his face; those puppy-dog eyes he knows nobody can say no to. Jughead releases a long-suffering sigh. The things he does for this boy. 

 “What’s the assignment?”

 Reggie, like Jughead was even talking to him, pipes in at this. “It’s about _Romeo & Juliet_. Meet me in the library after school today. I’m skipping practice for this so don’t be late, Carrie.” He turns to face Moose, who has just entered the lounge, and launches himself cooly away from Jughead and Archie.

 “So,” Jughead begins, watching as Reggie leaves the lounge, twirling a football. “You’re going to be there so we don’t kill each other, right?”

 Archie gives an apologetic wince. “Can’t. Practice.”

 “You are going to buy me _so much food_ , Archibald.”

~

Reggie is late to the library, because of course he is. When Reggie finally does appear, he sits at the table Jughead had picked and looks around self-consciously. He wants to remind Reggie that _he’s_ the one asking _Jughead_ for help, but he swallows the words. This is for Archie.

 “So,” Jughead begins after an impressive silence forms between them. “What’s the assignment?”

 Reggie stops surveying the room at that and meets Jughead’s eyes. “Right. Yeah. I have to write an essay on whether Romeo and Juliet actually loved each other.” 

 “That's easy. They didn’t.”

 Reggie rolls his eyes. “Thanks, dude. Problem solved." He sighs. “Look, I have to provide _textual_ evidence and I can’t read—”

 Jughead hides a snort.

 “—this crap.” Reggie finishes, annoyed. If Jughead were being honest, he’s a little surprised Reggie isn’t just telling him to do the assignment.

 “That’s why I brought you this,” Jughead holds up a copy of _No Fear Shakespeare_ he’d found while waiting for Reggie _._ “It translates the book into something even _you_ can understand.” 

 Reggie ignores the insult and makes honest-to-god _grabby hands_ at the book. “Are you serious, dude?” He opens it excitedly and skims through the pages. “Oh. Why didn't he just _say that_?”

 And if Jughead smiles at the sight, well, that's between him and Shakespeare.

~ 

It’s two weeks later and Reggie manages to pull a respectable B on his assignment. They go back to the way they were, but their arguments in the student lounge gradually become less heated. “In fact,” Veronica says one day at Pop’s, grinning with all the subtly of a cheshire cat. “It kind of seems like you two are, like, frenemies.” Jughead scoffs but doesn’t rebut.

 Archie blanches at her words. “He won’t stop _asking_ me about you. In the locker room. When we’re _naked_.” 

 Despite the color dusting his cheeks, Jughead takes a victorious bite of one of Archie’s fries. “That sounds like a personal problem, Archibald.”

 Archie pushes the fries in Jughead's direction as if he's lost his appetite. “Last time I ask you for a favor.”

**Author's Note:**

> [i have riverdale tumblr](http://jugsdead.tumblr.com)


End file.
